D Company
by Arisuke
Summary: Taking place after the Brood War. An UED marine company decided to become mercenary group since they were stranded in Korprulu sector after receiving news that UED fleet were destroyed. (Corrected a few mistakes. If there are still mistakes, please let me know.)


**AN: I don't own Starcraft, just this story.**

* * *

Starcraft – D Company

A man was lying down on his bed, recalling his past that had lead to his present situation. The money he received for his services was good actually, but not enough to even rent a ship. He had been staying in this building with his company for almost a year now, which he didn't expect to last this long. Finally he went to sleep.

* * *

Company D was the only company left of the 131st Marine Regiment of the UED Expeditionary Fleet to the Koprulu Sector. The loss of the UED fleet, including Admiral DuGalle, at the hands of the Zerg was a terrible blow to the survivors of the fleet. The survivors not only lost the military structure of the UED, but also lost a ticket home.

Losing a strict structure like that can make anyone lose their morale and direction, even if there were a strong leadership. The destruction of the ships capable of warp-jump inconveniently stranded them in the sector, but the question was, did DuGalle intend to abandon them or would he come back for the company?

The question would be in everyone's mind, but no matter what the answer was, it won't make a difference. DuGalle was dead and so were the ships.

The regiment was stationed on Sellers Prime, a backwater planet that doesn't even have minerals or even vespene gas. The reason for a company of fighting marines garrisoned on it was just to protect a radar station build to detect anyone coming through this system. The remote location of the system would still give the marines the idea that DuGalle might have abandoned the company.

The only ships that company had were 3 transport ships capable of carrying 23 people each. More than enough for a company of 63. However, these ships were not capable of warp jump and were not designed to last long in deep space. The best solution was to either join a faction or become mercenaries.

Joining a faction looked dimmer than becoming mercenaries. Terran Dominion would be a mistake since they will certainly execute or "re-socialized" any UED military units. Protoss won't bat an eye since they have their own terrible wounds to lick. James Raynor was nothing more than an upstart, incapable of changing any major event on his own, though some may respect for his actions. Not the Zerg, obviously, since their first thought was always infestation. Then there was the Kel-Morian Combine, just as bad as the Dominion, but only on corporate level. Umojan Protectorate somehow managed to be independent despite the power transitions and conflicts in Koprulu Sector, which may gain some respect and at the same time gaining some ire on the fact they refused to help the UED bringing down the Terran Dominion at the basis of neutrality and protecting their independence. Localized warlords were nothing more than greedy idiots with oversized purse and bigger ego, trying to maintain what little power they had over their own sphere of power. Worse of all though, to join a faction, a person need to submit dedication to that particular faction, something some of these people don't deserve.

Becoming a mercenary was also a terrible choice, but since people don't trust a mercenary, it may be a good thing since the people themselves were untrustworthy. If the company was to become one, they need to waste some of their ammunition, fuel of their transports and possibly suffering casualties. With those things in mind, they certainly need to charge a high price and upfront too.

It was understandable that some of the marines were against it and eventually became a split decision in becoming mercenaries. Even though the decision was not unanimous, all of them realized that there were limited supplies of ammunition, fuel, spare parts for the transports and the radar station and most importantly, food. It was not like these things could magically appear for free or that they know anything about agriculture, now that they were stranded in the sector.

The first question now, how to advertise the company as a mercenary? Next, who will be their employer? Third would be, how much for the mercenary's work?

No one knows how to answer these questions. So, the first action was to check the radar, which everyone knew was not a good source of information. Everyone had heard about Dead Man's Rock at one point or another, mainly because of the Terran Dominion had kept on using mercenaries from the place to boost Dominion forces. The location of Dead Man's Rock was definitely well known, but it was too far away from Sellers Prime. Anyone will certainly die before reaching there.

There was a trading post in the neighbouring system called Talgiers as far as anyone can remember. The trading post had been reported as an illegal establishment, but it was unknown why the admiral hadn't taken any action upon it. Most likely he chose the mission over something as trivial as this post. Now that the admiral's dead and the marines were stranded in the sector, they were certainly glad about it and definitely able to take advantage of the trading post.

As the commander of the company, it was his responsibility to take the first step in establishing some contact that could help in finding a job. He took 3 guys and obviously a pilot for one of the transports had to come along. Wearing the armour would certainly scare the people off and it could attract unwanted attention, so they had to depend on military clothing.

Getting to the trading post was easy enough, but getting someone to talk to was not easy. It took them 8 hours from Sellers Prime to this planet. The trading post was actually bigger than what they thought, more like a small town. It was a wonder how a remote place such as this could ever be so busy.

* * *

UED transport, _**Ageless Fire**_ , had landed just shy of 1 kilometer from the trading post. The marines were pretty sure the people from the trading post had heard the sounds from the transport. Just as the engines died down, everyone heard multiple sets of engine sounds outside the transport.

The marines and the pilot looked at each other. "Arm yourselves and prepare for anything," said the commander. The marines turned off the safety button of their Ronin pistols while the pilot took out her shotgun. Satisfied, the commander went to the back of the transport and opened the hatch.

There were 3 Vulture bikers; one of them got off while the other 2 remained on their Vultures. The 2 had already aimed their laser cannons to the commander. Seeing that, it was safe to assume all 3 Vultures would be upgraded to better weapons and that these people had enough money to do it. The lead man was wearing a golden star and had a hand gun in the side.

"Good evening," greeted the lead man, as he eyed inside the transport. "I'm Sheriff Calden of Mosstown. These 2 are my deputies. And who might you be?"

"I'm Edward Cheng. Did I do something wrong, sir?"

"You did. To land near Mosstown, you need to inform us and get permission to land within 1.5 kilometers."

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir. I didn't know that and I also don't know the frequency. This is my first time coming here." The commander could see the sheriff was taking a closer look at the transport.

"What is your purpose of coming here, sir?"

"I'm representing a company of men in finding a new job and I'm not sure where to find it. Hence, I didn't know how to call you to land here," replied the commander, trying to choose his words carefully.

The sheriff nodded, "This transport looks military."

"Yes, it is, sir. You have a good eye, sir."

"Mosstown had seen its fair share of military ships, Mr. Cheng, especially from the UED the past year. Yet, we were glad that the UED didn't bother us. However, the UED fleet never made it past this system before it was destroyed."

"And your point, sheriff?"

"We also know that there is a radar station in Sellers Prime, garrisoned by a company of UED marines. After hearing the UED fleet being destroyed, we knew it was a matter of time before you take some action."

There was an uneasy silence in the air for a few seconds. "The admiral chose the mission over this town, sheriff. That's why you're safe from the UED all this while. Do we have the permission to enter Mosstown?"

"Before answering that, how many are with you and are they wearing armour instead of this suit?"

"There are 4 of us here, sheriff, the rest are still on Seller Prime. All of us are wearing this type of suit."

"All right, you have my permission, since you're just finding a job. But I need the information of you and your friends present on this planet."

"I have them right now if you want to, sheriff."

"Bring it to town. I have the equipment there."

"Yes, sheriff."

"What's your rank, by the way?"

"1st Lieutenant."

"All right, lieutenant. You do know how to get to town, right?"

"I do."

"We'll head back and inform the town. Meet me at Jo's Place."

"Jo's Place?"

"You can't miss it."

As the 3 bikers left, Lieutenant Cheng closed the hatch and talked to his crew.

"Do you trust them, lieutenant?" asked the pilot.

"I don't, but since we're already this far, might as well stick to the plan. Staff Sergeant Velris, I want you to stay with the transport. If all doesn't go well, I want you to start the transport immediately. Han, stay with the pilot. Protect the transport and Velris. Kuramoto, Chen, both of you are coming with me. Velris, I need your data rod."

"Why, sir?"

"Because I just lied to them that were just 4 of us. If they were to come back secretly, Han can act as an unseen protection."

All of them nodded. "I was wondering about that," said Kuramoto.

"My guardian angel," said the pilot, sarcastically to Han, as she gave her data rod to the lieutenant.

"You better close the hatch, Velris. I want Han to remain unseen if there are still prying eyes."

The 3 of them finally set out, with their pistols armed. Jogging along the road took about 6 minutes to reach Mosstown. There were 4 Vulture bikers standing guard at the entrance; one of them was one of the 3 that came earlier. The bikers just looked on at the newcomers.

The town converged on a T-junction and had the basic necessities. There were 4 big buildings: a constabulary building, a motel, a trading centre and a saloon. The rest were more like residential buildings. Now that the marines can see the town much closer, it doesn't have a look of a trading post. The sheriff was right; the saloon called Jo's Place have a big picture of a topless woman covering both her breasts with her hands, something you can't miss. As one would get closer, there were neon lights on the picture, obviously for night time.

The 3 entered the saloon. There were a few attractive women, most likely waitresses, seeing they were wearing the same dress sexily. True enough, Sheriff Calden was sitting there, facing the marines. He invited the marines to sit down with him.

"I thought you said there were 4 of you."

"There are. I've ordered my pilot to stay with the transport, but I got her data rod here," he replied, taking out both his and Velris' data rod. The other 2 followed suit.

"So the information of 4 of you is in these rods?"

"Yes, what's wrong with it?"

"I forgot that the UED's technological tree is slightly different from the ones in this sector."

One of the waitresses suddenly came up and asked about our orders.

"We work first before drinking."

"So do I. Thanks anyway, Honey. If that is the case though, we better talk in my office."

The marines followed Calden to the constabulary. As they went in, the sheriff ordered one of his deputies to bring a universal date reader and another chair to his office.

"Take a seat, gentlemen. You like this place, UED?"

"For me, I prefer home," said Kuramoto.

"Good answer, Kuramoto," said Chen.

A man suddenly came in, holding a small suitcase. Another follow suit with a chair. The sheriff opened the suitcase, activated it and took a data rod. As he read, he took a glimpse of the marines. He repeated twice with the other 2 rods.

"So your pilot and all of you are from the Atlas Wing?"

"We are."

"1st Lieutenant Edward Cheng, Corporal Ido Kuramoto and Private 1st Class, Harris Chen and transport pilot Staff Sergeant Kylee Velris. From your data rods, can I assume that the entire company is filled with career servicemen?"

"What's that got to do with this?"

"It's okay if you refuse to answer. Now all that is done," said the sheriff, as he gave back the data rods and close the suitcase. "Tell me, aside from being close to Sellers Prime, why did you come here exactly?"

"You certainly know what had happened to UED fleet. We came here hoping to find a job."

"There are other places that you can try, Dead Man's Rock among others. With your transport, you can go there."

"Dead Man's Rock is too far away. Our transports were not designed for long-term travel and don't have warp drive. We will be dead by the time we get to Dead Man's Rock."

"And you think Mosstown could provide you a job?"

"Just trying our luck, sheriff."

"You are still sticking to that story, huh? If you really want a job, why didn't you just contact Dead Man's Rock or even Raynor or the Dominion? Why here?"

"We're searching for the right employer, sheriff."

"I still prefer Raynor over other people," said Chen.

The lieutenant looked at Chen, "Do you know where to find him, Chen?"

"We can agree that Raynor is not an easy man to find," said the sheriff. "If you have the feeling of being unwanted in this town, it is because Mosstown is not a place full of jobs, especially for mercenaries. Do you know what town this is?"

Nobody answered.

"Mosstown is a trading town. Founded, expanded and secured by the sweat and blood of 3 generations. Most of the things that we need are already fulfilled. As I said earlier, this town is not a place full of jobs. If you're talking about security, there isn't much problem with the locals and UED had scared off any pirates or bandits intend on coming here, so hiring a company of marines will be a waste. If you're wondering about the Vultures, we should thank the UED since your presence scared us into getting better weapons."

This constitutes to failure in finding a new role for the marines. However, what Calden said made the lieutenant to pose a question.

"If UED was the one that scared off the pirates or bandits, don't you think they will come back, now that UED is gone?"

"Is that a threat from you?"

"No, but it is a fact. Even if we don't do anything to you, can you really stop any of the pirates or the bandits coming to this town?"

"We can always call for help, and the Vultures will definitely help a lot in holding out."

"You sound very confident, sheriff. Do you really think it will work the way you wanted?"

"I certainly hope so."

"Seems we have failed here," said the lieutenant, as he got up.

"Don't you want some drinks? You come all this way just for naught. The least I could do is to treat you," asked the sheriff, before the 2 other marines got up.

"It is already over, lieutenant. There is no harm done," said Kuramoto.

"Sure."

Calden opened a drawer behind him and took out a bottle. On it, a sticker showing a logo and 2 words: Herbert's Whiskey. He then took out 4 small glasses and poured a small amount of whiskey into each.

"To your very health."

"And to yours, sheriff," replied Cheng. "Aren't you afraid of us, sheriff?"

"I'm always afraid, lieutenant. That's why I looked this old. I was afraid when the UED came to this sector, but your admiral certainly had some honour, since he didn't do anything to us, even when he completed his mission. While he didn't do anything to us, I can't say for his subordinates, which in other words, you. When the fleet was destroyed 2 weeks ago, you had the chance to attack us. Instead, you come now, looking for a job, to my surprise."

"Maybe we were scouting for these past 2 weeks, sheriff. Even now."

"It is a risk. It is also a risk of letting you keep those side-arms."

"You know, all these while we had noticed ships coming in and out of Talgiers, even during the UED occupation in this area of space. Just who did you deal with? Maybe we can deal with them and we can get out from your town."

The sheriff smiled. "You really are serious in finding a job, aren't you, lieutenant?"

"We are."

Sheriff Calden began to consider what to tell. "The 2 mining towns and the foundry are operated by the Umojan Protectorate. This town was established to gather all the raw metals, the ingots and any prefabricated materials in one place to be shipped off-world. The Protectorate wants this planet to be kept in a low-profile status. In keeping with the policy, the farming town was formed to make this area self-sufficient, with the occasional new equipment in farming, mining and for the foundry. You may have noticed a cleared area about 1 kilometer south of here?"

"We did."

"That is the landing site. Do you really want to try your luck with the UP?"

"If there is no job here, we have to find in another place. So, yeah."

"I'll call my contact in the UP, lieutenant. I want call them privately, gentlemen. They don't like to receive an unscheduled call. Hopefully, you will have better luck with them than with us."

The 3 men then left the office and waited. The marines could hear Calden turning on something, most likely a communication link since they heard a conversation.

"You really think we can trust this guy, sir?" asked Chen, softly.

"I don't, but what can we do? Taking over this town is just a temporary fix to our problem. Whoever is operating this planet will definitely try to do something. If we take by force, we just give them a reason to get rid of us by force."

"I know you don't like Raynor, sir. But perhaps we should try contacting him," said Kuramoto. "Raynor is still better than most in this sector."

"Perhaps so. Try to contact Raynor when we get back," said Cheng.

Calden finally came out a few minutes later. "Come on in. I had just talked to my contact at UP. She will talk to the higher-ups about you. However, this could take some time, probably 2 to 3 days before they call back. Can you wait that long?"

"We still can afford to."

"All right then. Do you still want to stay here or head back first? If you want to head back, you might as well give me your frequency so that I could contact you directly," said Calden.

"Okay. Our frequency is 1139.162 on this sector's wavelength. We still use that if anyone wants to contact us."

Calden quickly took out a pencil and a small notebook from his shirt pocket and began writing. "1139.162. Got it."

"We better head back to the transport."

"Hey, the situation in the Koprulu Sector is quite volatile. Being a mercenary may be good, job-wise, but that makes you very expendable. Nobody really trust a mercenary and they will definitely give you dangerous missions knowing some will die. I won't be surprise if UP does that."

"We have been marines throughout our lives. This is the only thing we know."

"But you have brains to change."

Cheng nodded. "I see you around, sheriff." He then saluted.

Calden then responded by offering to shake hands. "Good luck in your new journey then."

* * *

The pilot had already taken the transport out of the planet and Cheng seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

"You all right, sir?" asked Han.

"I'm okay. Just wondering what will happen now. I'm not sure if Umojan Protectorate would even bother with us. They're not exactly having a good relationship with the Terran Dominion. A conflict between them would be difficult for a lot of people. Maybe you're right, Kuramoto. Maybe Raynor is better than the rest."

The subordinates and the pilot just nodded at that. They spend the journey home playing cards.

* * *

"So, did you really call your contact, Calden?"

"I did, Adrisky."

"You really want them to join the UP?"

"To tell the truth, I don't care what happen to them at all as long as they don't bother us. I would have let them stay at Sellers Prime, but they took the trouble to come here. I got to do something to get rid of them. Besides, UP's military prowess isn't exactly in any shape to go to war. They may have the technology, but they still need people with strong military experience. Who better than this orphaned marine company? Either way, it is a win-win situation."

"Aren't you afraid those marines will attack us?"

"I do, but I gave them an impression that the UP would do something about it, which is true, isn't it? They may not come in time to save us, but they will definitely retaliate for losing a mining operation. If UED is still in power, they might negotiate peacefully. Now that the UED is gone, I don't think UP would negotiate peacefully. Since the marines came in peace, I just returned the favour in peace."

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 **If you like this story, please review, thanks.**


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